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Question about the Celestron AVX6 Newtonian

Randalloverby

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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I have had some positive results the last few months imaging with a dslr but pretty much have been limited to 30s exposures. Question is, would it be worth adding an autoguider to this setup for longer exposures ? Thanks for any opinions.

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bogdog

bogdog

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why limited to 30s?

with that mount you should get around 2 or 3 minutes if not more unguided,so it sounds to me like not polar aligned correctly

what is your setup like?

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Herzy

Herzy

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I'm only able to do 30 seconds consistently because I don't have an intervalometer, but on a good night my AVX is capable of 2min exposures. You just need good polar alignment.

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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I have been using the Celestron Polar finder but evidently I need to work on alignment more. Shooting with the Canon 5D Mark lll which by itself only allows up to 30sec shots, but even with those I can see the signs of trailing starting to appear. I finally got my laptop back up and running and downloaded BackyardEOS so soon as we get some decent weather I will focus on it more and try to get it worked out.  Gosh if I could get 2min  exposures, I'd be outside every night.:icon_biggrin:

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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1 hour ago, Herzy said:

I'm only able to do 30 seconds consistently because I don't have an intervalometer, but on a good night my AVX is capable of 2min exposures. You just need good polar alignment.

Thanks, on my next outing I will focus just on alignment, would love to get some 2min exposures !

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rigradio

rigradio

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On 5/9/2016 at 23:19, Randalloverby said:

Thanks, on my next outing I will focus just on alignment, would love to get some 2min exposures !

Try drift alignment, a very good source -> here
Scroll down 2/3rd of the page, you will find Drift Alignment Simulator there. Keep practice with the simulator, and you will able to get a precise PA within 30mnt in the field!

 

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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10 hours ago, rigradio said:

Try drift alignment, a very good source -> here
Scroll down 2/3rd of the page, you will find Drift Alignment Simulator there. Keep practice with the simulator, and you will able to get a precise PA within 30mnt in the field!

 

Thank you, I will look over it the next couple of days. So far the weather is looking good for this Saturday night (keeping fingers crossed) and will see what I can come up with.

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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40 minutes ago, Herzy said:

Post your results the next clear night you get!

I sure will. I setup last night and got a few shots of the moon but really not enough time for anything else, hopefully this weekend I can get the tracking PA worked out.

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PeterCPC

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18 hours ago, Randalloverby said:

Thank you Peter, if I could get 2+ minutes then that would be a game changer for me.

Just follow the instructions exactly for ASPA and use an illuminated reticule eyepiece (12mm) to exactly centre your targets always finishing with up and right. You should get a good PA. Make sure that your set up is well balanced. If you don't use ASCOM I suggest that you update the firmware as well.

Peter

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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8 hours ago, PeterCPC said:

Just follow the instructions exactly for ASPA and use an illuminated reticule eyepiece (12mm) to exactly centre your targets always finishing with up and right. You should get a good PA. Make sure that your set up is well balanced. If you don't use ASCOM I suggest that you update the firmware as well.

Peter

I don't have an illuminated reticle as of yet but what I have used is live view at 10x to center the target, I'm sure I will purchase one in the near future to help the whole process. I will try the ASPA this weekend, hopefully tomorrow night. Thanks for the advice.

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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On ‎5‎/‎13‎/‎2016 at 11:26, Randalloverby said:

I don't have an illuminated reticle as of yet but what I have used is live view at 10x to center the target, I'm sure I will purchase one in the near future to help the whole process. I will try the ASPA this weekend, hopefully tomorrow night. Thanks for the advice.

 Just an update. I setup last night and went through the two star alignment along with two calibration stars, then the ASPA and right away I noticed an improvement...and then the WIND came, LOL. I think tonight will be better so I'm gong to try again. Thanks everyone for the advice.

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 11:20, Herzy said:

Post your results the next clear night you get!

I setup last night and I was able to go from 30secs to 90secs on my exposures so things are looking hopeful. I will post some images later when I get a chance to edit. Thanks.

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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55 minutes ago, southerndiver357 said:

Glad to hear things are improving with your polar aligning. You could try the DARV method to get it spot on. I find it a lot easier to work out what is going on. Good luck.

I have never seen that before, thank you.

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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This Mon. thru Wed. is looking good for imaging so gonna spend some serious time with the scope. Managed to get 90sec exposures on my last outing and hope to do a little better next time. I will post my results then. Thanks for all the help.

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2016 at 11:20, Herzy said:

Post your results the next clear night you get!

I set up a few nights ago and was able to get 90sec exposures pretty consistant so I figured last night I would focus on doing better and dropped back to 45sec, so I managed to get a few of M13 before the moon came up. I know the editing has a lot to be desired but it is a start. I did a polar and two star alignment, added to calibration stars then the ASPA. Image consist of 30 lights 45sec, 20 darks stack in DSS. Edited in CS6. Maybe later on I will get Pixinsight if the wallet says I can.

m13 edit-2.jpg

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Herzy

Herzy

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Great job! Would you mind posting the stacked file so I can mess with it? I'm not great at processing so it will be good practice and I might be able to get some detail out of it.

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Randalloverby

Randalloverby

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1 hour ago, Herzy said:

Great job! Would you mind posting the stacked file so I can mess with it? I'm not great at processing so it will be good practice and I might be able to get some detail out of it.

I sure will, give me some time to set it up and I will post the link. Thanks Herzy.

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